Home on the Pavement

As San Diego’s unemployment rate has climbed steeply (to 8.8 percent), so too has the homeless population. Food lines are extending around blocks, and shelters fill up before the sun sets. Many are turned away from shelters and must seek refuge wherever they can.

The sidewalks adjacent to the downtown library and post office have become a haven for the recently homeless. People who held jobs just months ago are now pitching tents alongside others on the sidewalks.

Take the 163 north freeway entrance off of Tenth Avenue and A Street, and you’ll see tents dangerously close to the road. Walk down to Office Depot near Broadway and Pacific Highway, and you’ll see another homeless encampment.

The economic recession is hitting hard, and as jobs become more scarce and harder to retain, our fellow San Diegans are finding themselves laying down at night next to someone they might have said no to when asked for change just months before.